Attendance

We would love for children to attend for 100% of the time but attendance above 95% is seen as good attendance. When a child’s attendance is less than 95%, we will look to make sure that any barriers to good school attendance are supported.

Working together

Being in school and having the best attendance possible underpins all the many benefits of school for your child, their learning, wellbeing and wider development. For some children, attending school every day will be harder than for others. This is why Parish School is committed to working together with families to solve problems and support children’s school attendance. 

Is my child too ill for school?

It can be tricky deciding whether or not to keep your child off school when they're unwell.

There are government guidelines for schools about managing specific infectious diseases at GOV.UK. 

These say when children should be kept off school and when they shouldn't.

If you do keep your child at home, it's important to phone or email the school on the first day. Let us know that your child won't be attending and give the reason.

Being on time is important

The gates open at 8.45am and close at 8.55am. Learning in school begins for everyone at 9am. If your child arrives after 8.55am, they will miss out on the start of their learning which will mean they are trying to catch up rather than being fully prepared and settled. 

Medical Appointments

We ask that as many appointments as possible are made outside of the school day. If your child needs to attend a medical appointment in the school day, you must let the school know and show the letter or appointment card for the absence to be authorised.

Attendance Monitoring

Every week, attendance information about our children is looked at. When children are not in school they are missing out and catching up on lost learning is very difficult. 

Children who have attended less than 90% are persistently absent.  Children with an attendance of less than 95% are monitored closely and families are contacted so that support can be put in place if needed. We don't want our fabulous children to miss out on a great education!

Supporting Attendance

Exploring why a child has an attendance of less than 95% happens through informal Attendance Reviews - a conversation. If things don’t improve after an Attendance Review, we can support things that make attendance difficult using an Attendance Action Plan or a Team Around the Child (TAC) plan. We will use an Early Help Assessment to help us with this. The headteacher and attendance governor may be a part of this process.  If the support put in place does not make a difference, then the school will consider a fixed penalty notice after consultation with the local authority.

Fines 

Children need to be in school every day when they are well. There are 13 weeks of school holidays and we encourage all holidays to be taken then. Term-time holiday requests will not be granted and will be fined. 

The first time a Penalty Notice is issued, for term time leave or irregular attendance, the amount will be: £160 per parent, per child, if paid within 28 days but reduced to £80 per parent, per child, if paid within 21 days.

The second time a Penalty Notice is issued for term time leave or irregular attendance, within 3 years of the first offence, the amount will be: £160 per parent, per child, to be paid within 28 days. No reduced rate will be offered.

The third time an offence is committed within 3 years, for term time leave or irregular attendance, a Penalty Notice will not be issued and the case will be presented straight to the Magistrates’ Court. Magistrates’ fines can be up to £2,500 per parent, per child. Cases found guilty in Magistrates' Court can show on a parent’s future DBS certificate due to a failure to safeguard a child’s education.